Epilator



Aug 12,1941 V D. HERRMANN AL 2,425,696

EPILATOR Filled AprilA 1v 1944- l INvEN RS 10 'fs? 11aY z ATTORNEYS Patented ug. l2, 1947 EPILATOR Dorothy Herrmann and Frank L. Haley, New

York, N. Y., assignors, by direct and mesne assignments, of one-half to said Dorothy Herrmann and one-half to Ernest Herrmann, Great Neck, N. Y.

Application April 17, 1944, Serial No. 531,512l

3 Claims. (Cl. 16V-89) The present invention is concerned with epilatories, more particularly for removing unsightly hair from the arms and legs.

Among the objects of the invention are to provide a simple and inexpensive device which may be self-applied by the ordinary untrained person, without professional or lay assistance, and which requires no treating apparatus, no timing or metering equipment and no heating, moistening or other pre-treatment, which serves for removing all hair from a given area of skin instantly, completely and painlessly, without cutting, shearing or ,chemically degenerating or dissolving the hair tissue, but by uprooting each hair as a unit, and this without infection or mechanical injury to the hair follicle or the skin, all without either inhibiting regrowth of the hair or promoting such regrowth as a thick or coarse stubble.

In the accompanying drawings in which is shown one of various possible embodiments of the several features of the invention,

Fig. lis a perspective view of the device showing the protective cover about to be removed therefrom immediately preparatory to use.,

Fig. 2 illustrates the mode of applying the strip to the skin, and

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 illustrating the withdrawal of the strip from the skin, together with the hairs thereby uprooted.

Referring now to the drawings, the device may include a carrier strip lll, of impervious flexible fabric having considerable tensile strength. Densely woven fabric such as surgical tape is suitable as are a variety of other fabrics that are available on the market, one of which is known by the trade-mark Sanitas The adhesive epilatory composition Il, to be more fully described below coats one face of the strip and is shielded in the package in which the device is sold by a protective cover of suitable thin fabric such as paper, varnished paper, oil silk or the like, the open mesh gauze l2 illustratively shown being adequate for the purpose.

The epilatory composition upon the strip includes as ingredients -a relatively solid resin that has adhesive properties, a relatively solid plasticizer therefor and a solvent for said other ingredents. A

The resin is wholly or in largeA part of abietc ester and may be specifically of colophony or rosin or of ester gums, one specific example of which that has been used advantageously being diethylene glycol abietate. These substances are characterized by being tacky and non-toxic to the skin under the conditions of use for present purposes. Moreover, the substances are compatible with ordinary mineral oil into which they enter into solution at temperature above that of the human body, but below the boiling point of Water. For the most part the substances in the category set forth are also relatively inexpensive.

The plasticizer is a relatively hard Wax and is used because of a tendency of the resin used to harden when exposed to air and to become brittle. While any of a number of hard waxes are recommended, including spermaceti and carnauba Wax, beeswax has been used to considerable advantage in the natural form, but is preferred in the rened form known as white beeswax.

Any of the materials commonly identified as mineral oil and non-volatile at or below the boiling point of Water may be used as the solvent, but liquid petrolatum is preferred for the purpose.

The ingredients making up the composition preferably comprise by weight about two-thirds colophony, about one-sixth a relatively hard wax that serves as a plasticizer, and about one-sixth a mineral oil that serves as a vsolvent for the colo phony, about one-sixth a -relatively hard wax that serves as a plasticizer, and about one-sixth a mineral oil that serves as a solvent for the' colophony and the plasticizer at temperature in the order of the boiling point of water for facility of application of the 4coating to the strip in the fabrication of the device, the colophony and the plasticizer being relatively hard and constituting a relatively solid tacky mass at room temperature.

Since colophony and abietic esters generally have a tendency to oxidize, an anti-oxidant is the ingredients making up the composition are best used, are:

Per cent Rosin 63 to '71.5 Beeswax 19 to l5 Mineral oil 17 to 13 Antioxidant 1 to 0.5

A desirable range of proportions for the composition when utilizing colophony, is the follow- A specific formula which has been highly satisfactory in commercial practice is the following:

. Per cent Colopli'ony 67.0 White beeswax 17.5 Mineral oil 15.0 Antioxidant (Neozone D) 0.'5

Another desirable formula which has been found highly satisfactory is the following:

Per cent Diethylene glycol abietate 69.0 White beeswax 16.5 Mineral oil 14.0 Antioxidant (Neozone D) 0.5

The composition in each embodiment is a solid mass which upon heating in a water bath to 100 degrees C. becomes a clear liquid of the consistency of molasses, the solid ingredients thereof passing into solution in the mineral oil. The solution is sufficiently thin to be conveniently spread while'hot upon'the strip I0 with the use of any ofthe equipment commonly used for fabric coating. Asthe coating upon the fabric cools vto roomtemperatura'the resin and beeswax harden sov that a fairly solid, but tacky coating adheres to the fabric. The gauze or similar protective cover l 2 is adhesively heldin place by the coating and prevents undesired adhesion to the wall or the other contents of the package in whichthe epilatory devices are sold.

The anti-oxidant protecting the resin from oxidation, and the adhesive epilatory composition having no'volatile ingredients, it will not become hard or dry, regardless how long it is onthe shelf before use. The adhesive including no hygroscopic ingredients, it will not spread or become flowable even if exposed to'hot and humid atmosphere.

By use of a suitable dispersing agent such as a small proportion in the order of one per cent of triethanolamine, the composition above set forth could be dispersed in any volume of water, generally from one to six parts of water by weight to one part ofthe composition. Such aqueous dispersion can readily be applied cold to the strip and under the heat applied in the usual coating machines the water would evaporate from the strip leaving upon the strip a coating of substantially the composition above set forth. Thus, the composition may be prepared by the epilator manufacturer and applied hot or mixed with water and dispersing agent and applied cold, or the composition might be purchased by the epilator manufacturer and directly applied hot or dispersed by such epilator manufacturer in water with the addition of suitable dispersing agent'for coldapplication.

For use, the gauze or protective cover I2 is stripped off as suggested in Fig. 1. After the surface to be dehaired has been washed clean and dusted with talcum powder, the area to be dehaired is brushed or stroked to cause the hair to lie in the main direction of its natural growth, as suggested in Fig. 2, where the length of each hair extends to the right from its root at the left. One end of the strip l0 is folded back, to form a convenient hand-grip border i3, and the strip is laid upon the skin as suggested in Fig. 2, in the same direction in which the hair isbrushed, that is, in the direction in which the hairs extend from their roots. The strip is then pressed rmly into snug contact with the skin, so that the entire 'lengths of the individual hairs become securely embedded and anchored in the epilatory adhesive coating Il. Thereupon, the folded-in border I3 of 'the strip is grasped and the strip is stripped or ripped olf quickly with a, jerk in the direction opposed to that in which the hair grows, as suggested in Fig. 3. Each hair being securely embedded, anchoredand bonded within the epilatory adhesive coating throughout its entire length, the adhesive strip has a secure purchase upon each hair and will not come loose therefrom as the adhesive strip is pulled off the skin. The plucked hairs will'be clearly Visible to the naked eye upon the strip thus removed, After the operation set forth, the skin will'be completely clear of hair and will be cleaner and whiter than if the hair had been shaved off, Since the roots of the respective hairs have been pulled out of their follicles in the operation described. The operation is entirely painless and instantaneous. No mechanical injury occurs to the skin, as the body heat apparently releases sufficient mineral oil solvent to serve as a lubricant for ready separation of the epilatory adhesive coating from the skin. There is no toxic ingredient in the epilatory composition'that mightlead to yinfection of the epidermis, the dermis or other associated tissue under'the conditions of use. The follicles and hair glands remain unimpaired, so that the hair growth is not atrophied. Since the hair is neither mechanically cut nor chemically mutilated, there is no tendency for the coarsened regrowth, that commonly results from repeated shaving or the repeated use of hair solvents.

For dehairing the arms or legs a number of the strips described would be used, each upon a distinct area of skin, each being discarded after a single use. Desirably, the strips sold in any package are of assorted widths and lengths forlconvenience in treating various areas of arms and legs.

As many changes could be made in the above article and method, and many apparently widely different embodiments of thisinvention could be made without departing Yfrom the scope of the claims, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description'or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim asnew andl desireto'secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In an epilatory device of the type comprising a carrier strip having an epilatory coating thereon; the combinationin which the coating is composed yby weight of about two-thirds colophony, about one-sixth of a relatively hard wax serving as a plasticizer and about one-sixth of mineral oil, the latter dissolving the colophony and-the plasticizer at temperature in the order Per cent Colophony About 63 to 70.5 White beeswax About 19 to 15 Mineral oil About 16 to 14 Antioxidant About 2 to 0.5

3. An epilatory composition comprising the following ingredients in the following proportions:

Per cent Colophony 67 White beeswax 17.5 Mineral oil 15.0 Pheny] beta naphthylamine 0.5

DOROTHY HERRMANN. FRANK L. HALETY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

5 UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,091,313 Grant Aug. 31, 1937 2,202,829 Buif June 4, 1940 10 2,377,774 Gotham June 5, 1945 2,299,312 Dreshfield Oct. 20, 1942 2,367,663 Borgein Jan. 23, 1945 2,353,869 Bloom July 18, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS 15 Number Country Date 797,088 France Apr. 20, 1936 209,997 Great Britain Jan. 24, 1924 OTHER REFERENCES 

